— Vierge Noire (Black Virgo).
Black matter on wood 38x46 cm - 2019
Where does this Black Virgin come from, from the depths of time? In Neolithic cults, she represents the mother, she is black like Hades to the Greeks, like Pluto to the Romans.
It symbolises the forces of the underground world. She emerged from the depths of the earth, which is why rituals take place in caves, places par excellence.
Assimilate her to the primitive goddess that the Indians call Cali, the one who knows the secrets of the kingdom of the dead. For it is in the dark interior of the earth, the womb from which life emerged, that the enigma of the other Birth lies.
The intrusion into the cave guarded by the Black Madonna represents a privileged spiritual experience. It invites a total revolution of the soul, and inspires courage and the will to face the darkness.
And this is the very path taken by the Manoirs, in his frequent visits to the mines, his infinite curiosity for the hidden riches of the world below. We also find traces of this in his hermetic preoccupation, as the alchemical formula tells us:
v.i.t.r.i.o.l. visita interiora terrae rectificando invenies occultum lapidem
Go down into the bowels of the earth, and by transforming yourself you will find the hidden stone.
Paracelsus 1493-1541
Similar to the Outrenoirs (Beyond black) of Pierre Soulages, my Manoirs are not for looking, but to be lived. It is very hard to make one understand the singularity of these paintings with a simple photo. This is why I realize short film sequences, to make people understand that there are more than paintings, there are Manoirs.
This is an overprinting of Black that I was able to reveal in a ghostly way this face under the black light spectrum.
A stylistic representation of this Vierge Noire (Black Virgo) on a black monochrome, only visible with black light. The circle is complete.
Technically, this Vierge Noire (Black Virgo) does not exist because there is only one pigment : BLACK.